How Does Yoga Help with Weight Loss

There is always a question being asked. Can yoga help in weight loss? Base on my experience, my answer is Yes. But if you expect to lose weight by doing yoga only and not changing your lifestyle and diet habit, I have to say it is not going to work for you.

 

Determination Power

I have a student come to my yoga class for the reason to lose weight in the past. After two months, she really sees result. Therefore, she has continued with me for months and more weight loss.

But I have to let you know she attends more than one session a week and she goes for a 2 hours session. I used to have 2 to 3 back-to-back yoga classes continuously when I’m still on full time teaching last time. Each session is a 1-hour class. She will join my 2 back-to-back classes so she can have a 2 hours session.

She might have join other classes too and self practice at home too which I won’t know. But you can see how determined she is and how strong is her will power to keep it up with my classes for at least 6 months. Can yoga help in weight loss? It works for her!

So if it doesn’t work for you, then you have to ask yourself did you do the same number of hours and classes weekly for months and never give up like her?

 

 

Exercise And Diet

She has come to me for advice after 6 months with my class. She has realized her body weight has reached a stable stage and can’t lose any further weight. She searches for my advice how to lose further weight. I have advised her to start to work on her diet already.

Exercise and diet must go together. We cannot just depend on exercise only and our diet unchanged if we expect to see a satisfied result of weight loss.

There will be people asking how to lose weight without exercise and dieting. I’m sorry to say this is impossible. It is the same meaning as you have made a wish for something and then just sit there staring at the sky, doing nothing and expecting that something you wish for will drop down from sky in front of you.

Yes, there will be something drop down from sky in other words you will see an opportunity in front of you which require you to take action in order to make thing happen. It will not happen if you choose not to take any action and just sit there.

 

How Yoga Helps Weight Loss

Yoga helps by bringing us better in tune with our body, improving our self-image and sense of well-being. By reducing stress and thereby stress eating is another way that yoga can support weight loss. By encouraging a healthy lifestyle, consistent yoga practice makes it more likely that you will be able to maintain your weight loss.

Perhaps the most significantly is yoga’s emphasis on listening to your body first and foremost can be a positive change for people who have struggled to lose weight in the past. Yoga has an important role to play in a holistic approach to weight loss.

You can also do yoga at home on the days you can’t make for a class. Online yoga videos make it easy to practice in your own home at your own convenient time. In order to maximize yoga’s benefits, it is great to do a bit each day if you don’t have the time for a full session.

Starting a home meditation practice is another way to helps weight loss because meditation help to bring peace and calm your mind. When you realize you start to crave for unhealthy snack just close your eyes and meditate to calm yourself down to prevent impulsive action. Yoga’s benefits are both mental and physical, making it an integral part of many successful weight loss regimes.

 

Yoga And Mindfulness

The mental and spiritual aspects of yoga focus on developing mindfulness. This increases our awareness on many levels.

It can make us more conscious of how different foods affect our mind, body and spirit.

There is a study has suggested that people who develop mindfulness through a yoga practice may be better able to resist unhealthy foods and comfort eating. They may also become more in tune with their body so that they notice when they are full.

Yoga is thought to be especially beneficial for people who are struggling to lose weight in other ways as well.

There is a study reported that mindfulness training has positive short-term benefits regarding impulsive or binge eating and physical activity participation. There was no significant effect on weight loss directly, but it is thought that weight loss is associated with longer periods of mindfulness training. Therefore, further studies are needed to expand on these findings.

Since we are advised not to practice yoga on a full stomach, we may find that we make healthy eating choices before doing yoga. After a yoga session, we may be more likely to crave fresh and unprocessed foods. We may also learn to chew each bite more thoroughly and eat more slowly, which can lead to less consumption.

 

Physiological And Psychological

Yoga’s weight loss benefits are both physiological and psychological. Practicing yoga helps to increase our sensitivity to our inner signals such as hunger and cravings. There are physical components to both of these sensations, but true hunger to feed our body’s basic needs is a totally different experience than craving foods that do not nourish us.

Yoga helps to slow us down mentally so we can learn to distinguish between the urge to eat and the emotional impulses that sometimes drive us to eat to quell our feelings. Yoga can help us discern what we are truly hungry for, and knowing what makes us tick internally can help us lose weight by making better food choices.

 

Yoga And Better Sleep

By practicing yoga can help improve the quality of our sleep. We may find that we are able to fall asleep more easily and sleep more deeply when we have a consistent yoga practice.

Quality sleep is often associated with weight loss. A study has found that people who had restricted sleep five times per week lost less fat than the group that followed their normal sleeping patterns. Both groups were limiting to the number of calories they consumed, suggesting that sleep loss has an adverse effect on body composition, including fat loss.

Yoga nidra is a form of guided relaxation that you do lying down. The practice may help you to sleep more deeply and increase mindfulness.

A small study has found that healthcare workers who did yoga nidra for eight weeks increased their levels of mindfulness. This mindfulness included acting with awareness and not judging inner experiences.

Their levels of sleepiness were not significantly different at the follow-up. However, this score improved the longer people did the practice.

 

How Often Should You Do Yoga To Lose Weight?

Practice yoga as often as possible in order to lose weight. You can do a more active, intense practice at least three to five times per week for at least one hour. On the other days, balance out your practice with a more relaxing, gentle class.

If you are a beginner, start slowly and gradually build up your practice. This allows you to build up your strength and flexibility and prevent injuries.

If you don’t have time for a full class on certain days, do a self-practice for at least 20 minutes. If you need to follow instruction in order to know what to do, online yoga can help you. Allow yourself one full day of rest each week.

Sun Salutation is a great practice to help weight loss. Do at least 10 round of Sun Salutations. You can increase the intensity by holding some positions for longer periods or by speeding up the pace.

Combine your yoga practice with activities such as walking, cycling or swimming for added cardiovascular benefits.

 

Do you have any thought or experience that you would like to share? Please leave them in my comments box provided below. I am more than happy to hear from you! May you lose weight in a healthy way!

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Namaste

 

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